Fall at Universal Orlando is one of my favorite Florida trips to take — the weather’s decent, the decorations scream autumn, and there’s just something about visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter during the season that seems extra magical. If you feel the same and already have a fall getaway to Universal Orlando brewing, you probably have visions of hitting your go-to rides after dark and sipping Butterbeer while you soak up all the nighttime park energy. But there’s one thing you may not realize, and it’s the kind of crucial detail that could derail your trip if you don’t plan accordingly.

Here’s the thing: Come spooky season, park hours look a little different.

From late August through early November, Universal Studios Florida closes early on select nights — sometimes as early as 5 p.m. — to make way for Halloween Horror Nights, the highly anticipated (and massive) after-hours seasonal event. If you’re going specifically for HHN, this works to your advantage. If haunted houses aren’t your scene, though, you’ll be ushered out of the park before you might expect.

It’s a super-easy detail to miss if you’re not in the loop about Florida theme park news, and it can understandably be a major bummer not to realize until you’ve already arrived and headed over to hop on Revenge of the Mummy after dinner… only to be told it’s time to pack it in for the night.

So, here’s everything you need to know about Universal Orlando’s fall hours so that you can plan accordingly.

Which dates are affected?

This year, Halloween Horror Nights runs from Aug. 29 through Nov. 2 on select nights (typically Wednesday through Sunday, with a few Tuesdays sprinkled in). On these days, Universal Studios Florida closes at 5 p.m.

However, to offset this early closure, the park will also open an hour earlier — at 8 a.m. So, when you’re strategizing about how to spend your park days, make sure you consider that. I would recommend either getting up early and “rope dropping” Universal Studios Florida on HHN days to make the most of your time in the park, or arriving and leaving with enough time to avoid the HHN crowd as they file into the park.

What about the other parks?

Since HHN takes place at Universal Studios, the other parks aren’t affected as much during the fall. Still, I always recommend double-checking the park hours on the days you plan to visit. For the most part during the summer, the park hours have been 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, 10 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. for Epic Universe, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Volcano Bay.

As we move into fall, you’ll notice some fluctuations in those hours, with the park closing times shifting by an hour or two many nights. Islands of Adventure even closes as early as 6 p.m. on HHN Tuesdays, and then at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. on other nights. But none differ as drastically as the hours for Universal Studios during HHN season.

Oh, and while CityWalk isn’t a park, it’s a blast and deserves to be recognized more. During HHN, CityWalk remains open for shopping and dining (even when the parks close early) from 8 a.m. to midnight on Mondays and non-HHN Tuesdays and from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. on HHN days.

What are some hacks for planning around HHN?

If your family wants to maximize your park time but honestly doesn’t have any interest in being haunted, spooked, or otherwise creeped out like the rest of us freaks, there are definitely some workarounds:

• Check park hours in advance. Seriously, I can’t state this enough. Universal posts hours months in advance on their website, so look before you book.
• Go on Mondays or non-HHN Tuesdays. There are few things I love more than a theme park on a weekday! The crowds are generally lower, and during HHN season, you’re also able to squeeze in a little more time if you go on these days. Besides, everyone should witness the dragon breathing fire atop Gringott’s at night at least once.
• Hit up other parks in the evenings. This sounds obvious, but not everyone books tickets to park-hop every day. If you’re only visiting Universal Studios, or even if you are visiting more than one park but aren’t getting park-to-park passes, make sure to schedule your Universal Studios visit for non-HHN nights. Pro tip: Epic Universe at night is incredible.
• Take advantage of the earlier start time. Toss back some coffee and get up and out before the morning rush.
• Line up child care and have a grown-ups night out! If you don’t plan on bringing the grandparents along to help out, plenty of reputable local services offer childcare for theme park stays. This is the way to go if anyone in your adult crew is into scares — the event is an absolute must for horror buffs.

How late can you stay if you do HHN?

Here’s where having that childcare lined up comes in clutch, because HHN ends *late* at night. The closing time varies, but it’s generally either 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Just remember that this is a separately ticketed event, so you’ll need to wait until the official start time to enter the park.

Unless you splurge, that is. The “Scream Early” add-on lets you check into the park as early as 3 p.m. so you can knock out some rides or shows before heading to the Haunted Houses or scare zones at 4 p.m. Feeling super spooky? Upgrade your experience with other “extras,” like the HHN Express Pass (to get front-of-the-line access).

The Bottom Line

Even with the added logistical maneuvering, it’s 100% worth traveling to Universal Orlando in the fall. The decorations, the energy, the costumes, the seasonal food — it’s every bit as magical as you’re imagining. As long as you factor in the early closing time at Universal Studios when you book your trip, you won’t be disappointed.

There’s one lone dragon making a huge roar at Universal Orlando Resort’s new theme park Epic Universe, the first American theme park to open in 24 years on May 22. While there’s an entire world dedicated to the mythical creature at How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, across the in Celestial Park section is a mega-sized statue of another dragon, greeting visitors into the pan-Asian restaurant The Blue Dragon.  

“We definitely wanted to pay respect to the cultures,” Robert Martinez, Jr., Universal Orlando Resort’s director of culinary and executive chef told Travel + Leisure about the full-service restaurant located near the park’s Universal Helio Grand Hotel, A Loews Hotel. “We didn’t want to recreate our own twist, but have pan-Asian influence, touching on different areas of Asia.”

To do so, the menu includes chicken khao soi and peanut shrimp noodles inspired by Thailand, tonkotsu ramen by Japan, double fried chicken wings by Korea. There are even more nuanced Chinese dishes, like dan dan noodles and wonton in chili oil highlighting southwestern flavors of Sichuan, beef noodles from the western province of Xi’an, and dim sum from the Guangdong region. Also on tap are snowflake potstickers, fused together with a lace crust just like I’d seen in Taiwan.

Adding even more inclusion, the traditional mapu tofu recipe with pork was instead switched out for tofu to provide a vegan option, the chef explained. 

“What’s great about Universal and our culinary team is that we’re so diverse,” he said, noting that many of the team’s chefs are of Asian heritage. “A lot of us working out the recipes was asking them, ‘Does this bring you home? Is this how your mother or grandmother would make it?'”

To double down on the authenticity, the food was tested in team member dining locations with an even broader audience. “More team members that are more diverse and absolutely have their own twist and would say, “You know, and my family does it this way,” as they made adjustments to get the flavors just right.

“The only dish that we did put our own little twist on it was the moon cakes,” he said, referring to the Chinese sweet treat traditionally filled with red bean paste. “In our case, we have delicious passionfruit cheesecake, with a little mango jelly in the middle.” The change, he said, comes from a place of love and kept guest preferences in mind.

On top of the food itself, the serving style is also thoughtfully executed. “We have a special place in our heart when it comes to Asian cuisine—it’s how we like to eat,” he said, explaining that it’s not just about the dishes, but about the communal style of dining too. “Things come out as they get made, allowing for the cultural environment of sharing and eating with your family at the table, which is very much associated with Asian culture. So it’s not just the flavors, it’s the experience.”

Indeed, from the moment I stepped into the restaurant, I squealed with delights seeing the neon street signs, so reminiscent of my Asian travels, with one of too-cute cartoons of soup dumplings getting snatched up by chopsticks and another featuring shapes of foods I recognized from Taiwanese night markets. My favorite piece of decor—perhaps in all of Epic Universe—was the happy noodle cat over in the restaurant’s Tiger Bar. It’s a combination of two Asian traditions: a beckoning cat, believed to usher in good luck and fortune, and the slurping of noodles, which is considered a polite way to show you’re enjoying your food. 

The main dining room stunned with a traditional red pagoda under a faux night sky that Rodriguez described as a “golden garden with lanterns moving up and down, so that you’re literally dining under the stars with music that has an upbeat kick.”

To the left was a separate room, with place settings and tableware that gave me an instant nostalgic feel of the Asian restaurants I grew up going to both in California and Taiwan. The room had traditional screen doors and it wasn’t until Rodriguez clued me in that I noticed art was of Celestial Park’s skyline but in the style of traditional Asian illustrations—a little Easter egg hidden for those in the know.

Another unique aspect Adam Rivest, Universal Creative vice president of creative management and branding, told T+L is The Blue Dragon’s full tea service. “It’s nothing normally offered in a theme park,” he said. “But it’s so awesome in the middle of the day to go sit and have a relaxing Asian-inspired tea.” 

After all, Epic Universe’s dedication to offering a diverse range of true dining experience can be proven in pure numbers: it has just 11 rides but 30 dining establishments, which show a “crossroads for all cultures,” Rivest said. Whether that’s French-inspired fare at Café L’air De La Sirène, Nordic eats at Mead Hall, or barbecue at The Oak & Star Tavern, it’s all about getting the dishes just right. 

“We didn’t want to make it anything that was going to disrespect the cultures,” Rodriguez said. “We want to hit you in the heart with authenticity in a way that show we’re really trying to pay respect.”